Monolithic Fin-type Heat Sink

ABSTRACT

A fin-type heat sink applied to a electronic device includes a flake structured contact section adhered to an electronic component via an adhesive material, and a fin section including a plurality of pleats extending horizontally from the contact section, so as to substantially increase a heat-sinking area of the heat sink and effectively reduce heat generated when the electronic component is under operation. The contact section and the fin section are monolithically formed from a heat conductive metal, and since the fin section can be deformed with respect to the contact section to make room for any ambient components around the electronic component such that the fin-type heat sink is applicable to various situations without customization.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

This patent application is based on Taiwan, R.O.C. patent application No. 100121951 filed on Jun. 23, 2011.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a heat sink, and more particularly, to a monolithic heat sink applied to a thin electronic product.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Electronic components, such as display chips or micro-processors in computers, control chips in a panel television (TV), as well as chips having various functional modules, usually generate heat during operation; as a result, a heat sink plays an important role in the performance of electronic devices. Generally, in a case that a computer has ample space inside, a heat sink comprising a plurality of fins often cooperates with a fan to dissipate the heat from the fins. However, the above heat sink, which is commonly adopted by most computers, cannot be used in a flat panel display (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD), a liquid crystal TV, a plasma TV), and neither can the associated heat sink fan. Therefore, in a conventional space-limited electronic apparatus, a metal heat conducting slice is directly adhered to an electronic component that generates heat, so as to dissipate the heat from the electronic component. However, the metal conducting slice provides only a limited conducting effect due to its limited conducting area.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to solve the foregoing problem, a monolithic heat sink is provided to provide excellent heat dissipation for a heat-generating electronic component in a limited space.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a monolithic heat sink comprises a contact section and a fin section. The contact section is adhered to an electronic component in an effort to conduct heat generated by the electronic component, and has a flake structure that is horizontally extended and has a contacting area, which is no smaller than that of a grain of the electronic component. The fin section extends from both sides of the contact section in an axis parallel to the horizontal direction, and a part of the fin section can be deformed in such a way that the part of the fin section generates a shift away from the axis.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, compared to a conventional plate-like heat sink, a fin-type heat sink has an enough heat-sinking area to effectively dissipate heat generated when an electronic component is under operation. A monolithic structure of the fin-type heat sink reduces material cost and manufacturing cost, and since the fin section of the heat sink are appropriately deformed with respect to component placement around the ambient electronic component, the heat sink is applicable to various situations without further customization.

The advantages and spirit related to the present invention can be further understood via the following detailed description and drawings.

Following description and figures are disclosed to gain a better understanding of the advantages of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a monolithic fin-type heat sink in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a side view of the heat sink illustrated in FIG. 1 in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a side view of the heat sink, illustrated in FIG. 1, adhered to an electronic component in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a side view of a heat sink adhered to an electronic component in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The following description is given with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a monolithic fin-type heat sink 1 in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram a side view of the fin-type heat sink 1 in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention. The fin-type heat sink 1 conducts heat generated when an electronic device is under operation, so as to achieve a heat sinking effect. For example, the fin-type heat sink 1 is made of a copper or aluminum metal material which easily conducts heat. In this embodiment, since the fin-type heat sink 1 is monolithically made of a thin copper or aluminum slice, only a simple mechanical treatment is needed; in this way, a material cost and a manufacturing cost for assembling numerous sub-components to a heat sink can be eliminated.

Referring to FIG. 1, the fin-type heat sink 1 comprises a contact section 10 and a fin section 20. The contact section 10 has a flake structure extending in a horizontal direction (e.g., a direction L₁ or L₂ in FIG. 1), and has a contact area A. The fin section 20 is extended in a horizontal direction (e.g., the direction L₁ or L₂) from both sides of the contact section 10, and comprises a plurality of pleats 211 and 221. In this embodiment, the pleats 211 and 221 are folded into a three-sided shape, part of which is vertical (orthogonal) to the horizontal direction and another part is parallel to the horizontal direction. Height of the folded parts of the pleats 211 and 221 are determined according to a setting environment of the fin-type heat sink 1. Since the fin section 20 is formed by folding the flake structure that is extended in the direction L₁ and the direction L₂ from both sides of the contact section 10, in the event that the setting environment of the fin-type heat sink 1 has a predetermined size, the pleats 211 and 221 of the fin section 20 of the fin-type heat sink 1 significantly increases heat-sinking area of the fin-type heat sink 1 for dissipating heat generated by an electronic component.

In the first embodiment of the present invention, the fin section 20 of the fin-type heat sink 1 comprises a first fin section 21 and a second fin section 22. The first fin section 21 is extended in the horizontal direction L₁ from one side of the contact section 10, and the second fin section 22 is relatively extended in the horizontal direction L₂ from the other side of the contact section 10. Since the first fin section 21 and the fin section 22 are formed by folding the flake structure that is extended in the direction L₁ and the direction L₂ from both sides of the contact section 10, the pleats 211 and 221 of the first fin section 21 and the second fin section 22 have the same thickness as that of the contact section 10. In this embodiment, the copper or aluminum slice for manufacturing the fin-type heat sink 1 is thin enough to allow the fin section 20 to be slightly deformed in a vertical direction (e.g., a direction D₁ or D₂) with respect to the contact section 10. In other words, supposing that the fin section 20 is extended in an x axis parallel to the horizontal direction from both sides of the contact section 10, a part of the fin section 20 is deformed in such a way that it generates a shift away from the x axis, so that the fin section 20 is slightly upwardly deformed or downwardly deformed in the vertical direction to match with ambient electronic components placements, e.g., the first fin section 21 can be slightly deformed in the direction D₁, so as to avoid contacts between the electronic components. For example, when the fin-type heat sink 1 is adhered on an electronic component that needs heat sinking, the fin section 20 extending from both sides of the contact area 20 is slightly upwardly deformed (in the direction D₁) or downwardly deformed (in the direction D₂) to avoid contact or interference with other upper or lower electronic components.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the fin section 20 only comprises the first fin section 21 or the second fin section 22, i.e., the fin section 20 of the fin-type heat sink 1 is only horizontally extended from one side of the contact section 10 to provide more flexible applications for the heat sink.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a side view of the fin-type heat sink 1 adhered to an electronic component 50, which is a component requiring heat sinking on a circuit board 60. In this embodiment, the fin-type heat sink 1 further comprises an adhesive material 30, which can be double-sided adhesive tape or thermosetting adhesive. The adhesive material 30 is first adhered to the contact section 10 and then a heat sink surface of the electronic component 50, so that the contact section 10 is adhered to the electronic component 50 to conduct the heat generated when the electronic component 50 is under operation. The heat of the electronic component 50 is mainly generated by a grain 51, so that a contact area A of the contact section 10 (shown in FIG. 1) adhered to the electronic component 50 via the adhesive material 30 is practically no smaller than an area of the grain 51 (i.e., the contact section 10 is directly adhered to the grain 51 of the electronic component 50 via the adhesive material 30). Preferably, the contact area A of the contact section 10 is no smaller than the area of the electronic component 50; that is, the contact area A of the contact section 10 completely covers the area of the electronic component 50 to effectively conduct the heat of the electronic component 50 via the contact section 10. In other words, the contact area A illustrated in FIG. 1 is the contact area between the contact section 10 and the electronic component 50 that are adhered via the adhesive material 30. More specifically, in this embodiment, the fin-type heat sink 1 performs heat sinking by contacting the contact section 10 and the electronic component 50, and the fin section 20 is outwardly extended from the contact section without physically or electrically contacting the electronic component 50.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a side view of a fin-type heat sink 2 adhered to the electronic component 50 in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, an insulator sheet 40 is on one side of the fin section 20 of the fin-type heat sink 2. Accordingly, when the fin-type heat sink 2 is adhered to the electronic component 50, it is ensured that the fin section 20 extended from the contact section 10 is not short-circuited due to undesirably contacting with other electronic components on the circuit board 60 since the fin section 20 is insulated by the insulator sheet 40.

According to the embodiments of the present invention, a fin-type heat sink is applied in an electronic apparatus with only limited space inside. When a contact section of the fin-type heat sink is adhered to an electronic component via an adhesive material, a fin section, extended from both sides of the contact section and comprising a plurality of wrinkles, increases a heat-sinking area of the fin-type heat sink to effectively dissipate heat generated when the electronic component is under operation. The contact section and the fin section are monolithically manufactured via a conductive metal, and the fin section is appropriately deformed with respect to the contact section to match with ambient component placement around the electronic component to which the fin section is adhered, so that the fin-type heat sink is applicable to various situations without customization and interferences among components are also effectively avoided.

While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not to be limited to the above embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures. 

1. A monolithic fin-type heat sink, comprising: a contact section, configured to adhere to an electronic component to conduct heat generated by the electronic component, comprising: a flake structure extending in a horizontal direction; and a contact area, wherein the contact area is no smaller than an area of a grain of the electronic component; and a fin section, extending from both sides of the contact section in an axis parallel to the horizontal direction, wherein a part of the fin section is capable of being deformed in a way that the part of the fin section generates a shift away from the axis.
 2. The fin-type heat sink of claim 1, further comprising an adhesive material disposed between the contact section and the electronic component to adhere the contact section to the electronic component, wherein the contact area is an area which the adhesive material applies to adhere the electronic component to the contact section.
 3. The fin-type heat sink of claim 2, wherein the adhesive material is double-sided adhesive tape or thermosetting adhesive.
 4. The fin-type heat sink of claim 1, wherein the contact area is no smaller than an area of the electronic component.
 5. The fin-type heat sink of claim 1, wherein the fin section is formed by folding the flake structure.
 6. The fin-type heat sink of claim 5, wherein the fin-type heat sink is monolithically formed by a copper or aluminum sheet.
 7. The fin-type heat sink of claim 1, further comprising an insulator sheet, configured on one side of the fin section, which is the same side as the electronic component.
 8. The fin-type heat sink of claim 1, wherein the fin section comprises a plurality of pleats, and the contact section and the plurality of pleats have a substantial identical thickness.
 9. The fin-type heat sink of claim 1, wherein the fin section does not contact the electronic component and the fin section is capable of being deformed according to a component placement around the electronic component.
 10. The fin-type heat sink as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fin section is folded into a three-sided shape, which has a vertical part orthogonal to the horizontal direction and another part parallel to the horizontal direction. 